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More motorists should use dashboard-mounted cameras to tackle deaths on the roads, says the new police and crime commissioner.

Plaid Cymru’s Arfon Jones, who was elected last month, says footage from dashcams can play a role in securing convictions and deterring dangerous driving.

Mr Jones, a former police inspector, spoke out during a visit to North Wales Police’s Roads Policing Unit in St Asaph.

Earlier this year, the force released dashcam footage as a warning after lorry driver Nicholas Clough, from Bromborough, Wirral, was jailed for three and a half years for causing death by dangerous driving.

Clough was sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court in April following an accident which killed married father Daren Longden, 37, from Rawden near Leeds.

Chief Inspector Darren Wareing, who is in charge of the Roads Policing Unit in St Asaph, said: “We look at influencing people’s behaviour over what we call the fatal five offences: drink and drugs, using mobile phones or other smart devices, dangerous and careless driving, speeding and, importantly, not wearing a seatbelt.

“Some people will take a conscious decision to overtake when they shouldn’t overtake, to speed when they shouldn’t speed, to turn when they shouldn’t turn, to do daft things in their cars, and the consequences can be devastating and cause death.”

Chief Insp Wareing agreed the increased use of dashcams and helmet-cams was a good thing.

He said: “Dashcams are becoming more affordable. You can get a really good, high definition piece of kit that people put on their windscreens or attach to their rear-view mirrors, and it’s great for us.”

Do you think more dashcams on the roads are a good idea? Leave a comment below.